Arid Desert States West of the Nile River, Sudan

The dry desert areas west of the Nile River belong to the Sudanese wilayat (or states) of Northern (furthest north, as the name suggests), North Kurdafan (south of the former) and North Darfur (southwest of Northern state).

Northern (transliterated from the Arabic: ash-Shamaliyah) has an area of 348,765 km² and an estimated population of approximately 600,000 (2000). Dongola is the capital of the state.

North Kurdufan (transliterated: Shamal Kurdufan) has an area of 185,302 km² and an estimated population of approximately 1,400,000 (2000). Al-Ubayyid is the capital of the state. It is generally arid and desert.

Finally, North Darfur is one of the states composing the Darfur region. It has an area of 296,420 km² and an estimated population of approximately 1,583,000 (2006). Al-Fashir is the capital of the state.